Recreational equipment, more particularly skis and bicycles, are often transported by the family motor vehicle. If the skier owns, rather than rents, skis, they must be routinely transported from the home to the ski slope. With the recent growth and development of recreational biking, bicycle riding is not only a means for traveling to a destination, but a recreational goal in itself. Indeed, active bicyclists often transport their bicycles to areas of interest, sometimes hundreds of miles from home, where novel scenery may be enjoyed without the need for long distance bicycling. The frequent bicyclist finds a routine need for convenient bicycle transport in the family vehicle to-bike trails and bike sporting events. Only the largest trucks or cars can conveniently accommodate a bicycle or skis in the passenger compartment or trunk, and even then space for luggage and passengers is compromised. To address the need for convenient exterior transport, carrier racks have been developed.
Carder racks are typically mounted either to the roof of a vehicle or over the trunk. A third option is a carrier mounted to a trailer hitch.
Conventional brackets are typically designed to carry either bikes or skis, not both. Some bike racks can be adapted to also hold skis by a change of attachment brackets. One carrier, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,978 to Buttchen, et al., has an attachment system which can be used to grip skis or bikes. The ability to hold skis or bikes provides several advantages to the recreationally inclined consumer. A single carrier tends to be less costly than two carriers. Furthermore, one carrier is less bulky than two and hence more conveniently stored when not in use. In addition, a multipurpose carrier is easier for an operator to become familiar with installing and removing a single carrier rack, as opposed to mastering the particular requirements of two separate carrier racks.
A trunk or hitch mounted carrier typically provides one or more pairs of parallel, horizontally extending bars which extend out rearward of the vehicle. Soft rubber doughnuts spaced in pairs along the two support rods typically receive the top tube of each bicycle to be supported on the carrier. Other known carriers employ rubber coated steel tubes with heavy gauge wire. Bungy cords or elastic cables are typically used to restrain the bike and to prevent the bike from pivoting on the bracket. However, it is desirable to avoid any loose components which are not integral with the carrier to prevent them from becoming lost.
What is needed is a vehicle carrier bracket which is adaptable to hold bicycles or skis, and when used to hold bicycles, functions as to restrict tilting or pivoting of the device.